Jingles for my QH mare-Update: she's gone

[mzloolue]

I am sorry for your loss.

[KathyK]

You have done a beautiful job of telling us about her. She was a gem, for sure. Hugs to you and to your mother.

[awa]

{{{MagicEm}}} It's hard to lose them, even if they are old.

[Kelo]

Sorry for your loss

[Maggie]

I wish you the best to get through this tough time. I've had my mare since she was 4.5 and I was 12, and I appreciate all the time I get with her and my gelding who I got later, but he is a little older. I'm not looking forward being in your spot even though I know as both my horses are in their mid-20s, they won't be living forever. So very sorry for your loss. I can't write more or even read too many details or I'll be bawling, and I need to head out in public in a few minutes, but my thoughts are with you.

[LindaJ]

Very sorry for your loss

[Chisamba]

I am very sorry. Very very sorry. Did they give you an diagnosis, II recently lost a favorite lesson pony to rapidly advancing ataxia.

No confirmed diagnosis.

On top of how upsetting it is, to hear you lost your beloved horse, it's upsetting to hear how similar it was too my pony. Do you mind, if you have more information, and when you are less upset, please drop me a pm.

[MagicEm]

I just wanted to stop by and thank everyone again for their thoughts and comments. It really does mean a lot, and I've also shared the thread with my mom (who used to lurk on the old board, although she never signed up or posted), and they mean a lot to her too. My SO came to visit me in Philadelphia this weekend, and it's the first time I've seen him in 3 weeks. I was worried I would be a downer during his visit, but we had lovely weather and I got a lot of comfort from having him here and think I did a good job "living in the present" rather than dwelling on my grief. I am definitely still grieving, but it felt nice to put it aside for a few days, spend time with someone who really knows me well, and make some new happy memories with them.

Maggie: your comments were very sweet and heartfelt. I wish you as much time with your mare and gelding as possible. It is awful to lose them, but at least we have our memories and the lessons they taught us. Like you, I appreciated every minute I had with my mare, and my mom did too. My mom often spends lots of time grooming, hand-grazing, and massaging her horses, but she told me that throughout the fall she just felt a need to spend more time than usual with my mare. She said they would go hand-grazing for an hour several times and week, and they would both be really content and just have a great time. I know this might sound silly or "out there" but I think on some level my mare knew the end was coming and somehow my subconsciously my mom picked up on it, and as a result, they enjoyed each other's company even more than normal. I wish I could have spent more time with her in the past few months, but I did have a really great week+ visit in September, I'm so grateful for that and that she got to have the extra time with my mom in her final months. I'm just rambling, but I guess I'm also suggesting that if you ever feel the need or urge to spend extra time with your beloved 4-legged senior citizens and you are able to spend that time with them, do it and enjoy every minute.

Chisamba: I'm going to work on sending you a PM over the next few days. Sadly, we don't have any definitive answers, but I'm happy to share with you what we know (and talking/writing about her is hard, but also healing for me).